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Score: Radford 3, Ohio 0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-16)
Location: Blacksburg, Va. (Cassell Coliseum)
Record: Ohio 3-8, Radford 9-2
Short Story: The Ohio volleyball team (3-8) was handed a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-16) sweep by Radford (9-2) in the opening match of the Hokie Invitational on Friday (Sept. 16) at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.

THE BASICS
• The Bobcats were limited to a .171 (40 kills-21 errors-111 total attacks) attack percentage while the Highlanders hit .253 (38 kills-13 errors-99 total attacks). The teams were even with 37 assists and 44 digs apiece, but Radford led the way in service aces (8-2) and total teams blocks (10.0-6.0). Ohio was also plagued by five service errors.
• Redshirt junior middle blocker Ali Lake (Liberty Township, Ohio) tied for the match lead with nine kills to lead the Bobcats. She also added an assisted block and three digs.
• Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Katie Nelson (Regina, Saskatchewan) compiled a team-high four assisted blocks and chipped in seven kills for Ohio.
• Sophomore setter/outside hitter Stephanie Olman (Maumee, Ohio) led the Bobcats with 32 assists and two service aces. She also recorded six kills, three assisted blocks and two digs.
• Sophomore libero Erica Walker (Wheaton, Ill.) tied for the match lead with 14 digs for Ohio. She also had an assist.
• Senior libero Brooke Coleman (Plano, Texas) notched 11 digs and two assists for the Bobcats.
• Sophomore middle blocker Amaya Rousseau logged nine kills to tie for the match lead for Radford. She attacked at a .471 (nine kills-one error-17 total attacks) clip. Rousseau also contributed two total blocks (one solo, one assisted) and two digs.
• Junior outside hitter Maddie Palmer also tied for the match lead with nine kills for the Highlanders. She also finished with three total blocks (one solo, two assisted), a service ace, nine digs and two assists.
• Freshman middle blocker Mallory McKnight led the match with six total blocks (one solo, five assisted) and also had six kills for Radford.
• Sophomore setter Haley Kleespies tallied a match-high 33 assists for the Highlanders and also recorded two service aces to tie for the team lead in addition to two kills, two assisted blocks and five digs.
• Sophomore defensive specialist Valerie Ernat and junior defensive specialist Kaylor Nash matched Kleespies for the team lead with two service aces for Radford. Ernat also had a kill and three digs while Nash had an assist and six digs.
• Senior libero Kelby Jackson tied for the match lead with 14 digs for the Highlanders. She also had a service ace and an assist.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Radford jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the opening set, utilizing three kills and a block by Palmer and two kills by freshman right side Stephanie Neast. Ohio used back-to-back kills by Nelson and sophomore outside hitter Jaime Kosiorek (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) to make it a six-point set at 15-9. Kills by Neast, McKnight, Kleespies and Palmer helped the Highlanders increase their advantage to 22-16. Ohio made Radford work to close out the set win thanks to a 6-2 stretch that saw kills by Kosiorek, freshman middle blocker/outside hitter Sara Januszewski (Oak Creek, Wis.), Olman and Lake and a double block by Januszewski and Kosiorek. Radford earned the 1-0 match lead, though, as the first set ended on an attack error by the Bobcats.
• The Highlanders grabbed a 19-11 advantage in the second set thanks to three kills by Palmer, two apiece by Rousseau and Neast, a service ace by Pamer, a solo block by Rousseau and back-to-back double blocks by McKnight and Kleepsies. The Bobcats rallied again, though, going on a 7-1 run that made it a two-point set at 20-18 and forced Radford to burn a timeout. The stretch was highlighted by kills by Nelson, Olman and Kosiorek and double blocks by Nelson and Lake and Olman and Nelson. Unfortunately for Ohio, the Highlanders scored five of the next eight points to grab a 2-0 match lead. Three kills by Rousseau, a solo block by Neast and a double block by Neast and Rousseau sealed the set victory for Radford.
• The third set featured a match-high 11 ties and five lead changes. Two kills apiece from Salis and Kosiorek, kills by Lake, Januszewski, Nelson and Olman, a service ace by Olman and double blocks by Olman and Nelson and Kosiorek and Januszewski helped the Bobcats stay even with the Highlanders at 16-all. Radford ended the match in dominating fashion, though, scoring the final nine points. Two kills by sophomore right side Valerie Gonzalez, kills by Rousseau and Palmer and a service ace by Jackson helped close out the sweep for the Highlanders.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Ohio lost its first-ever meeting with Radford.
• Walker logged double-digit digs for the second time this year and 12th time in her career.
• Coleman posted double-digit digs for the sixth-straight match, ninth time this season and 38th time in her career.

QUOTABLE
Third-year head coach Deane Webb on slow starts leading to losses
"We needed a different level of intensity. I don't know if we were overlooking and getting ready for Virginia Tech. I don't know what it was, but we definitely did not come out with the level of focus and intensity that we needed."

UP NEXT
The Bobcats close the Hokie Invitational with a showdown against host Virginia Tech at 8 p.m. ET. The matchup will be streamed live on WatchESPN and the ESPN app. The Hokies are scheduled to play Radford at 3 p.m. ET.

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